Author's Note
I do not own the Hunger Games.
Vivaldi Perlman, 16
The Golden Level Park was busy today with the hot weather. Vivaldi shifted his bag against his shoulder as he scanned the park and reached for his comm phone. Had he beaten Thorin here? No; he never beat Thorin here. He meandered down the path as he dialed his number. Answerphone.
"Hey, it's me," he said. "Just got to the park. Where are you?"
Here somewhere, certainly.
They weren't the only ones to decide on coming here for art today though. There was a pair of girls down by the lake painting the scenery and another going round apparently observing the birds with a paintbrush in hand. Vivaldi narrowly avoided a collision with her as she stepped across his path, apparently drawn by a knot of roots.
His comm phone beeped. Thorin.
'Lake northside, near the memorial.'
Ooh, the memorial. Would it be distasteful to take inspiration from that? It was a reminder of the Dark Days, but it did have nice colours.
'On the way.'
A slight weight slammed into his front and Vivaldi stumbled, flailing to find his balance. Something clattered to the ground. He grabbed the railing. "Sorry, I wasn't–"
The girl that had walked into him stared up at him with anger and hatred in her pale eyes, a trembling, shaking fury on her face. She was smaller than him, younger than him, and yet fear coiled inside him. Vivaldi raised his hands. "I– I'm sorry– I didn't mean–"
She reached down and picked up the thing she'd dropped. A doll, the old kind, with long blonde hair. A thin crack ran up the side of its face. She hugged it to her chest.
"I'm so sorry. Is it ok– Did I break it– I didn't see you."
She peered up at him, something churning behind her eyes. "Rise like a phoenix, Vivaldi Perlman. And look where you're going."
He blushed. "Yeah, I… Yeah. Sorry."
He turned back to the path and hurried to the memorial. Thorin was already set up to the side of it, with his sketchpad today, laid on his stomach.
"Thought you'd got lost!" he called.
"I… ran into someone. Literally." Vivaldi dropped down beside him and glanced at his comm phone to switch it off, only to be met by a black screen. He groaned. "Think I've broken my comm."
"Ah well." Thorin took his hand. "Live without it."
Vivaldi grinned at him. "I can do that."
Especially here and now, laid next to Thorin.
Andreas Amandiel, 18
The bookstore was quiet today. Those younger than Andreas rarely came here, while the usual older regulars seemed to be absent. His quick look over the history shelf revealed they had nothing new, and what they did have was all Capitol propaganda and anti-District writings about the Dark Days. Andreas should know; he'd read most of these tomes.
He turned to the fantasy section afterwards. There was only half a shelf of that. Most in the Capitol preferred the more mindless methods of entertainment. Andreas picked out the one new release.
A pair of arms curled around his waist. "I thought I might find you here."
Andreas turned to look at his boyfriend, Carnelion. "I'll have to try harder next time."
"I did check the RedRain list first, but saw you weren't on there."
Andreas shrugged. "I tried. Didn't get in this time."
RedRain was one of the three centres that ran The Game, and the closest to Andreas's home, which meant half the Games he had played had been held there. The others had been split between the other two centres. But The Game was always popular, and even when he tried to arrive as early as possible, he'd often find himself out of the running. Typical kids here. They loved the spectacle, lived for the false bloodshed. They should be better than this. There had to be more to life, a better future.
He paid for his book and the two of them left the shop to find a place for lunch. It wasn't until that evening, when Andreas was removing his new book from the bag, that he found the folded slip of paper tucked behind its cover.
Follow not the red light, nor the orange, and definitely not the blue, for all will lead to destruction for you.
Zephyr Almon, 13
The television was playing that advertisement again, the one for The Hunger Games Simulator. Zephyr glanced at Celeste. She was brushing the hair of Poppy, one of her dolls. He sighed. Why couldn't he have a normal big sister? None of his friends had older sisters that still played with dolls. Or did creepy, unnerving things the way Celeste did.
"That looks like fun," he said. Last week, Maximillion had mentioned to his big sister that The Game looked fun, and she had taken him out to play it the next day.
Celeste raised her head and looked at the screen for a long moment. "It's an evil thing."
"It's a game. You know, like a video game?"
Celeste said nothing and returned to brushing her doll's hair.
"It could be fun?" Zephyr said again.
Celeste began to work Poppy's hair into pigtails.
"Celeste, I want to play The Game," Zephyr said.
Celeste looked at him again, then at the television. "You have games."
"I want to play that one. All my friends are playing it."
"It's a game of death."
"So is Radioactive; you don't have a problem with that!"
"I won't play this death game." She fixed a bow in Poppy's hair. "But if you must play, I'll take you."
Zephyr grinned. Well, that was a start. "I'll get my shoes." Then, after a moment of thought, "And yours."
How often did Celeste forget to wear shoes?
Zephyr wished he had a normal sister, like other people.
Our last three players!
Vivaldi Perlman was created by goldie031!
Andreas Amandiel was created by Paradigm of Writing!
And Zephyr Almon was created by me!
So with all the characters introduced, here's the cast list!
Zephyr Almon, 13 (me)
Phoenix Sterling, 13 (me)
Celeste Almon, 14 (me)
Silverie Erilea Amarendaje, 14 (WritingArtGenius)
Emeria Delilah Echavoque, 15 (WritingArtGenius)
Ares Gilmore, 15 (me)
Marcellina Arnoult, 16 (Victoria the Bipolar Tribute)
Calpurnia Catallus, 16 (Victoria the Bipolar Tribute)
Vivaldi Perlman, 16 (goldie031)
Etheria Arquette, 17 (ladyqueerfoot)
Apollo Gilmore, 17 (me)
Artemis Gilmore, 17 (me)
Iridescence Sterling, 17 (me)
Luminescence Sterling, 17 (me)
Radiance Sterling, 17 (me)
Luminita Summerfield, 17 (MoonlightSalsa)
Sorcha Summerfield, 17 (MoonlightSalsa)
Andreas Amandiel, 18 (Paradigm of Writing)
Maximillian Marcus Badondé, 18 (pikachulover1234567891011)
Hortensia Chrysalis, 18 (Victoria the Bipolar Tribute)
Submitter Check-in question
Now that we're at this point, let's do an easy question. Do you have a favourite player or players (other than yours, that would be cheating) so far? Leave a review or PM me your answer!